title: Cyclic compression and decompression of a lipid bilayer.
abstract: In this study, we measure transient thicknesses of a lipid bilayer during electrostatic compression and decompression and deduce non-equilibrium molecular interactions of the surfactants' tails within the layer. The bilayer under investigation (sorbitan monooleate) is single-tailed and self-assembles between a water drop and hafnium oxide in dodecane. We detect minute changes in bilayer thickness (∼0.01 Å/s) resulting from step changes in electrostatic pressure. The dynamic response of the bilayer consists of an elastic response followed by an inelastic dissipative behavior. We observe a distinct asymmetry between the inelastic responses: compression triggers a linear reduction in thickness over time, whereas decompression induces a logarithmic increase in thickness.
authors.affiliation: MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Lexington, Massachusetts 02420, United States.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guha
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kedzierski
authors.forename: Behrouz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Abedian
mesh_terms: D003500:Cyclization; D008051:Lipid Bilayers / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D055672:Static Electricity; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D008051:Lipid Bilayers; D013501:Surface-Active Agents